Saturday, November 02, 2024

Why doesn't the Philippines have tigers?

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The tigers once roamed almost all of East and southern Asia and were found in Japan, indonesia and yes Phillipines as well.

They were separated due to oceanic flooding of the sundaland. Till then the land was home to many species, like Elephants, gaurs, and Rhinos. Just like the indonesian subspecies, evolved to become smaller due to phenomenon of insular dwarfism.

Phillipines did have such smaller tigers, as proof of a few fossils found here. Tigers probably reached the archipelago, since they're excellent swimmers, and crossed the water.

There's uncertainty of the said ssp as well, which could be due to them becoming extinct earlier than the Japanese ssp.

Elephants, rhinos and tigers once lived in the Philippines
Extinction? It’s a natural phenomenon – but today's extinction rates are anything but natural. How can we stop the spiral of extinction?

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